Like reading the headlines, of yesterday’s news over and over…
– Joe Walsh

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The other day, I was talking with a conservative. Apparently, the cons have been conned into believing the current high gas prices have nothing to do with corporate boardrooms and everything to do with Joe Biden being a Democrat. This failed understanding allowed my con conversationalist to sneer, “So…how do you like those high gas prices?” Honestly? I’m ambivalent. On the one hand, I’m not a fan of paying the higher prices. On the other hand, greed kills. In THIS case, the greed of the oil companies will, I’m sure, hasten the arrival of renewables, killing their black-gold goose.

It won’t be overnight, to be sure. Still, these days, Americans have options and they’ll use them. Fossil fuels are yesterday’s news and the sooner we transition away from them, the better…

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In what must be unrelated news, the ocean is on fire. You might want to read that again. It’s a little difficult to wrap one’s mind around the fact that the ocean is on fire. It’s actually a broken gas line and the escaping gas is what’s on fire. It poses a question: what does one use to put out an ocean on fire? It’s not like throwing some water on it is going to help.

Sadly, this is not the first time I’ve seen water burn in my life. We humans (Americans, in my experience) are capable of throwing SO MUCH CRAP into water, it burns. The last time I saw it, the result was a Republican president (Nixon) enacting the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA made new rules and regulations, cleaned things up, and the rivers stopped burning. Then the deregulation fiction took hold and we’re back to burning water. Good job, cons…

These days, I’m sure con media will go all in on how burning the ocean is good for it or some such and then we’ll see an army of armed idiots defending the right of the fire to burn…

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I would not want the day to pass without mentioning the passing of Donald Rumsfeld. He blessed the planet by leaving it after only 88 years of harm and destruction. He helped Bush 43 start his illegal wars of profit. A LOT of innocent people died because Donald Rumsfeld lived. That’s one hell of a legacy.

Speaking of Hell, I’m sure Mr. Rumsfeld is busy settling in to his new digs and I’m sure the world is better off without him…

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Well, it was great while it lasted but the dumbass is in the news again. Sure, he’s running around stirring up his acolytes at rallies and that’s going to generate some coverage. This seems to be some kind of ‘Greatest Hits Revue’ tour. He’s covering all his old hits but there’s nothing new in there. Meanwhile, he’s also in the news because his organization is under indictment for tax fraud. I’m sure the cons have already dismissed the investigation as a “witch hunt” and the truth is, I don’t think these crimes are going to amount to much. The organization will give a little, “Oh, is that a problem? Who knew?” and pay whatever fine they agree to. (To me, it’s a problem that rich people get to “agree to” penalties for their wrongdoing…)

People on the left are salivating over the possibility that THIS time might be THE time. Maybe justice will catch up to the dumbass once and for all. Listen, don’t bet the farm on it. Satan takes care of his own and the Orange Moron seems to be a Satan favorite. In fact, I think if Jesus took care of HIS followers as well as Satan takes care of his, Christianity would be doing MUCH better in the world…

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SO…it’s the Fourth of July. Independence day in the United States. Well, at least the day we celebrate as Independence Day. Close enough. This year marks 245 years since the colonist’s uprising. The fireworks have already started. Through the years, I’ve become less and less of a fireworks fan. I like them. I’m always impressed by the skills necessary to make those things do the things they do. BUT…I live in Northern California. We’re currently embroiled in a drought. Actually, I’ve started to realize we no longer live in a rainy place going through a dry spell. I’ve come to realize we live in a desert that occasionally gets some good rain. It’s different. To hear the cons tell it, it’s anything – everything – except climate change. But, hell, they’re wrong about everything these days so why not that, too?

So I don’t like the fireworks because of the very real risk that some chump will do something stupid with them and burn things up. (One guy recently threw lit fireworks into a field. You’ll never guess what happened after that. The field caught fire. (Oh, you DID guess…) He burned several apartments and displaced the residents. Fortunately, he burned his OWN apartment, too, AND got arrested. It’s ALWAYS the few who ruin it for the many…)

Another objection to fireworks, though, is the fact that they actually celebrate war. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. The United States of America is one of the most warlike nations in the history of History. By some estimates (it depends on how one counts conflicts) of the 245 years the United States has existed, we have been at war for 224 of those years. That’s only 21 years where the US was NOT in a war – in our entire existence!

When I was a kid, one of my uncles who had participated in one of our little wars used to go inside the house when the fireworks started. I was too young to understand at the time but he was going inside to try and evade the very sights and sounds the country was inflicting on him to “celebrate” the wars. I’ve since learned about PTSD. Now I can’t see fireworks without thinking of that uncle and those like him. America manufactures and discards broken soldiers like plastic water bottles and all of those damaged people running around may very well not enjoy the rocket’s red glare nor the bombs bursting in air. (In my experience, actual combat veterans tend to have a very different understanding of the so-called “glories of war.”)

I want to be clear. My heartburn is with fireworks, not America and certainly not our soldiers. We don’t need fireworks and they’re very disrespectful of the men and women who fought so hard and so bravely to give us the freedom we use to disrespect them today. So I hope you enjoy your Fourth of July holiday. I hope you have a lovely barbecue and hang with your family or friends or whatever but I also hope you’ll leave the fireworks out of it.

Hope springs eternal, I guess…